COLOMBO INTERNATIONAL NAUTICAL & ENGINEERING COLLEGE.

FIRE DETECTION METHODS

Fire Patrols

These are not normally carried out on a regular basis upon most vessels but they should be
conducted (l) immediately prior to, or upon sailing. A thorough inspection of the vessel being
made specially in hold compartments, stores, engine and boiler rooms etc. (2) when the vessel
has been vacated by shipyard personnel whilst the vessel is in port undergoing repair. Someone
may have been using oxy-acetylene burning or welding equipment on one side of a bulkhead
totally unaware that the beginnings of a fire were being created on the other side of the bulkhead.

The patrol should, in addition to looking for fire, assess and correct any possible dangerous
situation, e.g. loose oil or paint drums, incorrectly stored chemicals, etc.

Fire Alarm Circuits

These consist of an alarm panel, situated outside of the machinery spaces, which gives indication
of the fire zone. Zone circuits, audible alarms and auxiliary power supply.

CINEC MARITIME CAMPUS 05/08/12 Page 1

Circuits

When the contacts in a detector head close (open under normal conditions) they short the circuit
and cause operation of the audible fire alarm. The lines in the circuit are continuously monitored
through 1 to 2 and 3 to 4, hence any fault which develops, e.g. damaged insulation, break in the
cable, causes the system failure alarm to sound.

Power failure

In the event of failure of mains supply power, automatic auxiliary power is supplied from fully
charged stand-by batteries for up to 6 hours. Most systems operate on 24V ' dc, however for
those operating at mains supply of 220V ac an inverter converts the 24V . dc to 220V. ac.

Audible Alarms

The fire alarm is usually an intermittent audible signal whereas fault and manual test are
normally a continuous audible signal.

Fire Detector Heads

Various types are available for fitting into an alarm circuit, choice is dependent upon fire
risk, position, area to be covered, volume and height of compartment, atmosphere in the space,
etc. To economize and simplify, standard bases are generally used in the circuit into which
different types of detectors can be fitted.

Heat Sensors

These may be fixed temperature detectors, rate of rise detectors or a combination. Rate of rise
detectors do not respond and give alarm if the temperature gradually increases, e.g moving into
tropical region, or heating switched on.

Pneumatic Type

Increase in temperature increases the air pressure inside the hemispherical bulb, if the bleed of
air through the two way bleed valve from the inside of the bulb is sufficient the diaphragm will
not move up and close the contacts. If however the rate of rise of temperature causes sufficient
pressure build up inside the bulb to close the contacts, alarm will be given. In either case a bi-
metal unit will at a pre-determined temperature close the contacts on to the fixed temperature
adjustment screw, giving alarm.

CINEC MARITIME CAMPUS 05/08/12 Page 2

Bi-metal Coil Type:

Two bi-metal coils attached to a vertical support bracket are encased in a protective metal cap.
When the temperature increases A will move to close the gap C at a faster rate than B moves to
maintain the gap, this is due to B being better insulated from the heat than A. If the rate of rise of
temperature is sufficient, gap C will be closed and alarm given. At a fixed temperature gap D,
then gap C will be closed, giving alarm.

Quartzoid bulbs of the type fitted into a sprinkler system are fixed temperature detectors used for
spaces other than engine and boiler rooms.

Relevant Points

Sensitivity: a typical response curve for a rate of rise detector is shown in Fig. The greater the
heat release rate from the fire the poorer the ventilation and the more confined the space, the
quicker will be the response of the detector and the sooner an alarm sounds. ire the poorer the
ventilation and the more confined the space, the quicker will be the response of the detector and
the sooner an alarm sounds.

Fixed temperatu.re setting depends upon whether the detector is in accommodation or machinery
spaces, and can vary from 55OC to 70OC.

The detector is useful for dusty atmospheres as it is completely sealed but it does not give as
early a warning of fire as other types of detectors. It can be tested by a portable electric hot air
blower or muff.

CINEC MARITIME CAMPUS 05/08/12 Page 3

Infra Red Flame Detector
Fig. shows in simplified form this type of flame detector. Flame has a characteristic of about
25Hz and use is made-of this fact to trigger an alarm. Flickering radiation from flames reaches
the detector lens/filter unit, which only allows infra-red rays to pass and be focused upon the cell.
The signal from the cell goes into the selective amplifier, which is tuned to 25 Hz, then into a
time delay unit (to minimize incidence of false alarms, fire has to be present for a predetermined
period), trigger and alarm circuits.

Relevant points

Very early warning of fire is possible, suitable for areas where fire risk is high, i.e machinery
spaces-but not in boiler rooms where naked flame torches are to be used for igniting oil.
Reflected radiation can be a problem in boiler rooms and from running machinery. It can be
tested by means of a naked flame.

Photo electric Cell Smoke Detectors

Three types are in use, those that operate by light scatter, those that operate by light scatter, those
that operate by light obscuration and a type which combines scatter and obscuration.

Light Scatter Type

A photo-cell separated by a barrier from a semi-conductor intermittently flashing light

source are housed in a' enclosure whose containment allows smoke but not light inside. When
smoke is present in the container, light is scattered around the barrier on to the photo-cell and an
alarm is triggered.

Relevant Points

Smoke may be present without much heat or any flame, hence this detector could give
early warning of fire. photo-cells and light sources are vulnerable to vibration and dirt.

The light obscuration type is used in oil mist detectors for diesel engine crank cases and the
obscuration/scatter type is to be found in the detecting cabinet of the carbon dioxide flooding system.

Standard Bases

The standard bases shown in the figures for the various detector heads have a neon light
incorporated which flashes to indicate which detector head has operated. Detector heads can be
simply unplugged from the base and tested in a portable test unit which has an adjustable time
delay, audible alarm and battery.

CINEC MARITIME CAMPUS 05/08/12 Page 4

CINEC MARITIME CAMPUS 05/08/12 Page 5